Wire straightening apparatus



Feb. 21, 1939. c; D JOHNSON 2,148,357

WIRE STRAIGHTENING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 24. 1936 \nvenTon' v Ch0r\esD.\Johnson byalwwiw Aflys.

Patented Feb. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE".

WIRE STRAIGHTENING APIARATUS Application September 24,4936, Serial No.102,342

1 Claim. (El. 140-148) This invention relates to wire-straighteningdevices, and one feature of the invention concerns a wire straightenerdesigned to straighten wire which has a cross-sectional shape other thancircular.

Another feature of the invention relates to a machine constructed toproduce wire having a predetermined shape and to straighten the wire allin one operation.

The features wherein my invention resides will be more fully hereinafter.set forth and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing; l

Fig. 1 shows a view of a wire-forming and straightening device embodyingmy invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2, Fig, 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of the two shaping rolls;

Fig. 4 is a view of one of the upper straightening rolls showing theshaped wire passing thereover;

Fig. his a view of one of the lower straightening rolls showing the wirein contact therewith;

Fig. 6 is a sectional perspective view of the wire.

The wire-straightening feature of my invention is of that familiar typewhich comprises two sets of wire-straightening rolls l and 2 betweenwhich the wire 3'to be straightened passes, said rolls having peripheralwire-receiving grooves and having the usual staggered arrangement sothat as the wire passes between the rolls it will have a slightlysinuous course.

The wire-straightening rolls l and 2 are shown as mounted on a suitablesupport 4, and the rolls of the two series are supported so that theycan be adjusted relative to each other thereby to give the wire agreater or less sinuous course. The rolls may be mounted in the support4 in any usual way so as to providefor the desired adjustment, and asherein shown each roll is independently adjustable, and its positionwith relation to the rolls of the other series is determined by anadjusting screw 5. Each of the wire-straightening rolls l and 2 isprovided with a peripheral groove 6 having a shape to fit the wire 3 sothat as the wire passes over any straightening roll its shape ispreserved, and it is prevented from twisting on spiralling so that thewire emerges from the straightening device with the same shape it hadwhen it entered and without any spiral or twist.

The invention is adaptable for straightening Wire having anycross-sectional shape other than circular. Merely as illustrating theinvention I have shown it as adapted for straightening wire, having thecross-sectional shape shown in Fig. 6, that is, wire having a general Dshape in cross section and presenting a flat face i and the rounded face8. The groove in each of the straightening rolls is shown as having theflat face 9 extending at right angles to the axis of the roll to fit theflat face 1 of the wire and the rounded face In to flt a portion of therounded face 8 of the wire. The grooves in all the m straightening rollshave an identical relation to the roll axis 01; the periphery of theroll, that is, the groove in each of the rolls has its fiat face 9extending at right angles to the roll axis. The identical grooves in therolls 1 of the upper .set have a cross-sectional shape complemental toand of a size to fit the cross-sectional shape'of the portion of thewire engaging said rolls l, and the identical grooves of the rolls 2 ofthe lower set also have a cross-sectional shape compleo mental to and ofa size to fit the cross-sectional shape of the lower part of the wirethat engages said rolls 2. Hence, as the wire passes through the groovesof the series of straightening rolls said wire will be prevented fromtwisting and will not only be straightened in the sense that kinks areremoved but will be held from turning on its axis during thestraightening process, thereby producing wire without any twist in it.

Anotherfeature of the invention relates to a machine adapted to formwire, that is, to give wire a predetermined cross-sectional shape and tostraighten the formed wire, all in one operation. For this purpose Ipropose to mount on the support 4 a pair of wire-shaping rolls ll,

12. These rolls have peripheral wire-shaping grooves l3 therein, eachgroove having a shape corresponding to one-half the cross-sectionalshape of the wire. In the present instance, each shaping groove i3 isformed with the flat side I4 and the rounded side l5. These shapingrolls operate in substantially peripheral contact with each other, andas a round wire 3 is fed through said rolls it is shaped thereby andemerges therefrom with the cross-sectional shape produced by the grooves13. As the wire leaves the shaping rolls it passes immediately to thestraightening rolls i and 2 where it is straightened, and thus thewire-forming and wire-straightening operations are performedsimultaneously.

If it is desired to subject the wire to a two-way wire-straighteningoperation, then the wire, after emerging from the straightening rolls 1and 2, will be passed betweentwo other sets of straightening rollsoperating at right angles to the 55 ing together a non-circular openingthrough which the wire passes and by which it is given the desiredcross-sectional shape, wire straightening means situated closelyadjacent the shaping rolls on the delivery side thereof and comprisingan upper set of straightening rolls with which the upper side of thewire contacts and a lower set of straightening rolls having a staggeredrelation to the rolls of the upper set and with which the lower side ofthe wire contacts,

the rolls of the upper set having in their peripheries identical groovesof a cross-sectional shape complemental to and of a size to fit thecrosssectional shape of the upper portion of the wire, and the rolls ofthe lower set also having in their peripheries identical grooves of across-sectional shape complemental to and of a size to fit thecross-sectional shape of the lower portion of the wire, the grooves inall the rolls of each set having an identical relation to the axis ofthe roll, and the rolls of one set having such relation to the rolls ofthe other set that the wire is given alternate opposite bends as-itpasses between the two sets of rolls, the grooves of the straighteningrolls holding the wire from turning on its axis as it passes betweenthem and is being straightened.

CHARLES D. JOHNSON.

